


Regulus the Vampire Slayer

by feverbeats



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-10
Updated: 2010-06-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feverbeats/pseuds/feverbeats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's a girl, usually," Dumbledore says finally, raising an eyebrow. "The Slayer."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regulus the Vampire Slayer

  
When Regulus Black is sixteen, two life-changing things happen to him.

The first is the Death Eaters. They are something that happens to people, or something people fall into. Everyone always uses phrases like that, never saying, _You sought them out. You came to them. You_ wanted _this_. That always makes Regulus wonder a little, and worry, because he thinks maybe he _does_ want this. His parents want it for him, true, but that doesn't mean he wants it any less.

The second thing that happens to him is that he becomes the Slayer.

It's October ninth, just a week after he takes the Mark, and he's called into Dumbledore's office at a truly indecent time of night. The niggling, pedantic voice in the back of his head cites this as a pretty severe breach of etiquette, but he tries to ignore it. Dumbledore is, after all, headmaster, and therefore he's entitled to bend up the rules a bit.

Regulus always feels out of place standing in this office, although everything about it is carefully arranged to make people feel at home. Regulus smiles faintly. His home is nothing like this.

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore says, his eyes bright as always, "Do you know why I've called you here tonight?"

Regulus shakes his head and then remembers to say, "No, sir."

"I see. Tell me, have you been having dreams lately?"

Regulus frowns, trying to sort out the correct response. "Yes?" he hazards. "I mean, I generally do. Did you mean any specific kind of dream?" he hastens to add, in case Dumbledore thinks he's being impolite.

Dumbledore smiles. "I did indeed. Allow me to come straight to the point: You see, into each generation, a Slayer is born. One person in all the world, a chosen one. One born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers." His eyes twinkle more than usual as he chants the words.

Regulus considers this carefully. Then he says, "I thought—Well, I thought vampires were sort of all right, sir."

"Oh, some of them are." Dumbledore looks as though he's enjoying himself immensely. "However, there is a reason they're hated and feared by many. At worst, they're monsters. At best, they are carefully controlled monsters." He folds his hands.

"Are you trying to tell me," Regulus says, "that I'm this Vampire Slayer? I mean, I don't want to presume, but—"

Dumbledore holds up one hand. "Not at all. You're correct, of course. Destiny is a tricky thing, but yours is more definite than most."

Regulus is silent for a moment, turning all of this over in his head. Then he says, "Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Regulus bites back a shaky laugh. No, of course not. The lives of the Black family children are not made up of things they have a choice about; that was his brother's mistake. "All right," he says. And then, "Thank you," because being in a state of shock is not excuse for rudeness. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Dumbledore clears his throat. "Many things, but I don't think we need to go over all of them tonight. I'll just tell you the basics. You may sit down, Regulus," he adds, seemingly as an afterthought.

Regulus nods. "Thank you." His legs feel stiff as he sits.

"You'll become stronger," Dumbledore says after a moment of regarding Regulus. "Heal faster."

Regulus tries not to think about what that could mean for his career as a Death Eater. It could be useful, _so useful_, but he isn't sure about how these two halves of his life will tangle together.

"You'll have a Watcher," Dumbledore continues. "Someone sent to guide you and help you along your path."

Regulus looks up, surprised. "A Watcher?" He was already accustoming himself to the idea of doing this on his own, just like everything else. "Who?"

Dumbledore smiles.

"Oh," Regulus says, surprised out of protocol for a moment. It could be a minor disaster having Dumbledore watching his every movement, and he tries to remind himself of that over the sudden burst of relief.

They sit silent for a long moment, both off in their own heads.

"It's a girl, usually," Dumbledore says finally, raising an eyebrow. "The Slayer."

Regulus fights a slightly panicky giggle, stopping himself only with the knowledge that his mother didn't raise him to laugh at authority figures. "Oh," he says again, unable to say anything else.

"Perhaps this is enough for the night," Dumbledore says gently. "Unless, of course, you have any questions."

"Can I tell—anyone?" Regulus asks. He realizes he was about to say _my boyfriend_, and that wouldn't be polite. Teachers don't care about people's personal lives, even when they're your Watcher. The term is a little creepy, now that he thinks about it, and very appropriate for Dumbledore.

Dumbledore shakes his head gravely. "Traditionally, you aren't supposed to."

Regulus takes that for exactly what it is: the freedom to choose. It's a tiny thing, but it's the only one he has at the moment. "Thank you," he says. He stands, trying to decide what comes next.

As Regulus is leaving, Dumbledore says, "I confess myself to be mildly surprised."

Regulus turns. "Sir?"

"Many children I know would question this. I thought you might, although not out of disbelief, but perhaps because you have so many older relatives. Your brother, for example. I thought you might wonder why he was not chosen." His face betrays nothing.

Regulus pauses. He knows he should say something about how he was wondering why it was him, he just didn't want to say, but the truth comes out instead. "The thing is, sir, it's always been me. Sirius has never gotten anything, not from our parents or _anyone_. So, I didn't think it ought to have been him. If that's what you were wondering."

It comes out sounding much harsher than he meant it to, almost as if he thinks Sirius deserves to be continually shoved aside. Even now, sixteen and a Death Eater, he doesn't feel that way. Sirius used to be a pretty all right brother, and even now that he's off living with James Potter during the summers, he's okay when pressed to be.

But no. Regulus isn't surprised. He's used to having everyone's hopes hung on him.

**Epilogue**

"There's a cemetery in Little Hangleton you should see," Dumbledore says. There's something unreadable in his expression, and Regulus is a little frightened by it.

"Little Hangleton," he echoes. "That's quite far, isn't it?" He doesn't see why they can't keep hunting in the nearby cemeteries, as they have for the past two weeks.

"There's something I must tell you," Dumbledore says. "Something about Lord Voldemort."


End file.
